Already dubbed "Badmintongate" and "Shuttlegate", the fiasco has far-reaching ramifications. Bringing the game to disrepute before the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and above all a worldwide audience may have delivered the killer smash on badminton's future in the prestigious Games.

When the Chinese top seeds Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang, world champions at the same venue almost a year ago, showed little interest in beating their Korean opponents Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na to finish top of Group A, it drew jeers from the crowd. They could sense that deliberate timewasting, hitting the shuttle wide or long and little effort to at least pretend that they were out for a win was a form of manipulating the competition format.

Coming second for Wang and Yu would have meant avoiding compatriots and second seeds Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei, who earlier lost to a Danish pair, at least until the final. The Koreans responded to China's antics by applying the same tactics, which prompted referee Thorsten Berg to warn all the players. The match restarted and the Koreans went on to win 21-14, 21-11. The longest rally in the first game had been just four shots.

Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, was quick to publish a strongly worded editorial condemning the two Chinese players. Its criticism came as the Badminton World Federation issued a statement that it had opened disciplinary cases against four women's pairs for "not using one's best efforts to win a match" and "conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport". Hours later BWF confirmed the four pairs had been disqualified but not expelled from the London Games.

The scandal drew ire from two of the game's biggest ambassadors, Lin Dan and Taufik Hidayat. Athens 2004 champion Hidayat called the fiasco a circus, minutes after losing his encounter with Lin Dan but slightly before BWF made the announcement. "It's a bad image for badminton," he said to reporters. "If they are going to be disqualified than I'm happy. It's for the sport. Sport is sport. That's not sport. I hope they are disqualified. It's not for China. It's not for Indonesia. It's for sport."

Lin Dan, gold medallist in 2008 and the current world No1 in men's singles, pinned the blame on the organisers whom he claimed set up a playing schedule that opened the door to manipulation. "Whenever they set the rules they should take that situation into consideration," he said. "I don't understand why there is a group situation [rather than a straight knockout competition]."

BWF officials introduced a preliminary pool round for London 2012, against the customary knockout stages from the beginning in previous Games. Many have called for it to be overhauled, given it was liable for manipulation. Previous practices saw a straightforward knockout format but in an effort to promote the game, the BWF claimed the pool format would allow longer playing time for less heralded players.

What BWF should have done was for the top two of all groups in every category to undergo a redraw process separating only the top two seeds or winners from each section to the top and bottom half draw. This would guarantee top quality group matches that would not be liable to abuse. And little chance of any player of picking and choosing a so-called weaker opponent in the following round.

The fiasco has relived the issues surrounding the Thomas Cup series – a competition acknowledged as the "World Cup" of badminton. The draw often allowed stronger nations the chance of picking weaker opponents in the knockout stages. China and the Koreans were notorious for capitalising on this loophole. In individual tournaments, they have resorted to pulling out or giving a walkover to their fresher compatriots or the chosen one to stand a greater chance of winning the title and therefore boost their world rankings.

BWF's noble intention of making the game accessible to a bigger group of Olympians has in fact backfired dramatically. It could sound the death knell for badminton after 2016, even if the former badminton supremo Sir Craig Reedie and the Chinese legend Li Lingwei were voted into the high office of the IOC less than a week ago.